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Asia » Japan » Tokyo » Ikebukuro
October 23rd 2012
Published: October 23rd 2012
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i am in toyko and still have keyboard issues. this time my internet cafe is quite cosy. i have a thick cushion in my computer booth and have to take my shoes off before entering.

this morning i went to watch kabuki - an old fashioned form of japanese theatre. i thought it was a cross between chaucer and the panto. the plays are meant to look like the floating world with every scene perfect and balanced. so much so that the story is secondary to how everything looks. the audience was filled with japanese ladies-who-lunch with some incredible designer clothes and some questionable plastic surgery. there were two plays - kokusenya and kanjincho - at a total of 3 hours. several people fell asleep but all woke up for the interval where the mingled smell of a thousand bento boxes was enough to wake the dead.

inbetween kyoto and tokyo we have travelled around japan. we visited hiroshima which was very moving. there is a building still standing - the only one left from the bomb, and a building in which left from the bomb, and a building in which everyone died. a huge new hiroshima has been built around it with massive roads, offices, homes and malls. the museum has artefacts belonging to those who were bombed. burnt clothes, a watch stopped at exactly 8.15 when the bomb exploded, a boys school lunch box - all of his food turned to charcoal. it must have been an unimaginable experience - the gravel in the street turned to glass. recovery began almost immediately, the japanese hugely resilient. even some of the trees, branches and trunks destroyed, grew from old roots. ever since the japanese government write to the current american president every time they test nuclear weapons. the japanese army play only a defensive role and never leave japanese soil. even this is changing though with questions about whether japan too should have a nuclear arsenal and whether its army should go abroad. such a unique history makes this surprising.


along the way we have also stayed in ryokan - traditional japanese guesthouses. i love them. the beds are thin mattresses placed on tatami mats with pillows filled with beads. the blankets are cosier than a nest. the baths are fantastic too. men have one bathroom, the women another - all used as a shared space. firstly you wash and rinse all the soap off in a tiny cubicle then you can go into a hot shared bath. once you the british awkwardness of sharing it is fine. the bath is usually supplied by a local spring and made of cypress. afterwards you wear kimono supplied by the ryokan and drink green tea. it is all very soothing. the ryokan food has been incredible too - smoked mackeral, fresh salmon and tuna, carved and roasted aubergine, bitter peaches served in squares of coconut jelly, flowers carved from carrot, pickles, hot noodles and cold noodles, restorative miso, fresh fruit. all delicious. we looked a little like the snow monkeys we saw in obuse bathing in hot pools. i we saw in obuse bathing in hot pools. i guess we are not so in hot pools. i guess we are not so different afterall.

please excuse all typos. i've not much time to write and the text keeps getting duplicated. no idea why. more stories and photos later.

take care all.

kxx

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24th October 2012

:)
Nice blog! It is reminding me that I have not yet visited Japan.
27th October 2012

japan
hey thanks! japan is great fun and really friendly. hope you make it here soon! k

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